Apple on Tuesday announced its new MacBook, which slots in as the middle step between the entry-level Apple MacBook Air and the high-end Apple MacBook Pro.

Highlights include a 13.1mm thick chassis, 2-pound weight, and all-day battery life thanks to a Intel Core M processor and batteries that fill the slender case.

The MacBook is available in three colors: natural silver, space gray, and a gold that is distinct, yet subtler than you'd think, allowing you to match your iPhone or iPad, if you wish.

The all-aluminum unibody follows Apple's strong design ID, and looks as familiar as the other MacBooks in the lineup.

Open the lid, and you'll see a much smaller bezel than the one on the 11-inch MacBook Air, as well as edge-to-edge glass covering a screen that is just as bright and clear as the ones on the Retina MacBook Pro. Like the MacBook Pros, the new MacBook has a Retina display, with a 2,304-by-1,440 resolution and a 16:10 screen ratio. That's way up from the 1,366-by-768 resolution and 16:9 screen on the 11-inch MacBook Air. The screen still scales intelligently, so readability is excellent.

What's even more interesting is that if you open a new MacBook and MacBook Air up and place them side by side, the tops of the screens are almost the same height within a few millimeters, which means that the new system will fit fine on an airline tray table, especially if the person in front of you reclines. The 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are both over an inch taller.

The new keyboard has full-size keys, but is a lot thinner than even the keyboard on the MacBook Air 11-inch. Key travel takes a few minutes to get used to, but feels a lot better and more responsive than the membrane keyboards on the Dell XPS 11 and Microsoft Surface Touch Cover.

The new Force Touch trackpad has a haptic response that you'd swear feels like a button click. The trackpad actually has no z-axis movement; instead, vibrations make your finger think it clicked the trackpad. The usual multi-touch gestures are there, including two- and three-finger swipes.

The trackpad introduces a pressure-sensitive Force Touch: press on the trackpad until you feel the click, then press harder to activate a new contextual click, which can let you perform tasks like bringing up a Map for an address, previewing a snapshot of a picture, or looking up a term on Wikipedia without leaving a webpage. Think of it like a more active right-click, and you'll be most of the way there. Force Touch will also be used on the MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display and the Apple Watch.

The system only has a single USB-C port for power/charging and a headset jack. There simply isn't enough room on the side of the chassis for a regular USB port. You'll need to carry adapters for DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 2.0/3.0, and VGA. The system comes with a USB-C charger, which isn't compatible with other devices without an adapter. 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 are built in, and can help alleviate connectivity anxiety.

Since the system weighs only 2 pounds (lighter than the 2.38-pound MacBook Air 11-inch), which is just a hair heavier than the original Apple iPad WiFi+3G with a case. I can see carrying this system everywhere, so you can have the full OS X compatibility with a system that weighs about as much as a tablet with a docking keyboard.

Full OS X compatibility is assured, thanks to the Intel Core M processor. The new Core M also helps the weight, since it runs without the need for a cooling fan.

Between the fanless cooling, chassis filled with batteries, and new power-efficient screen, Apple promises up to 10 hours of movie playback.

At first blush, the MacBook is an innovative laptop that we will be running through its paces on or about April 10, when it is available to customers in stores and online.

About the Author

Joel Santo Domingo joined PC Magazine in 2000, after 7 years of IT work for companies large and small. His background includes managing mobile, desktop and network infrastructure on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Joel is proof that you can escape the retail grind: he wore a yellow polo shirt early in his tech career. Along the way Joel e... See Full Bio

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